Sleeping-car



ATTORNEY 4 Sheets-Sheet 1. H. PBARSON 8v C. J. ROSE.

SLEEPING CAR Patented Jan. 3, 1893.

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4 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

H. PBARSONv C. J. ROSE.

SLEEPING GAR.

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3.

H. PEARSON & C. J. ROSE.

SLEEPING GAR.

No. 489,089. Patented Jan. 3, 1893.

(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

H. PEARSON & C. J. ROSE.

SLEEPING GAR.

NSO. 489,089. 0x fl* 7l@ FQMB Patented Jan. 3, 1893.

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UNITED STATES PATENT QEFICE.

HENRY PEARSON, OF BRIGHTXVOOD, AND CHARLES J. ROSE, OF CIIICOPEE,MASSACHUSETTS.

SLEEPING-CAR.

SPECIFICATION forming parz of Letters Patent No. 489,089, dated January3, 1893. .ppncaaen and April 12. 1892. serial no. 428.845. no man.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY PEARsoN, of Brightwood, and CHARLES J. Ross,of Chicopee, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Sleeping-Cars, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming part thereof.

io Our invention relates to that class of sleeping cars in which acompartment or well, beneath the door of the car, is provided, intowhich the berths are lowered when not in use, and from which they areraised by suitable x5 gearing for use, said compartments or wells beingclosed, when the berths are lowered therein, by hinged sections of thefloor, which sections, when raised to a vertical position, form thepartitions between the berth-sections zo and carry on their lower sidethe racks upon which the berths are raised and lowered. For a moreparticular description of such form of car reference is made to LettersPatent No. 403,265, issued to L. J. Harris, )lay 14, 1889.

z5 The objects of our invention are to provide means for raising andlowering the berths which will obviate the necessity of using two shaftsat the ends of each berth and an intermediate shaft extending along oneside of the 3o same, as shown in said Letters Patent; to provide animproved arrangement of racks and pinions for raising and lowering theberths, with a view to securing increased ease and steadiness ofmovement to the latter; and, to

provide an auxiliary spring or springs to assist the devices for movingthe berths in one direction.

To these ends our invention consists in the combination and arrangementot' parts herein- 4o after fully described and particularly pointed outin the claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which like letters designate like parts inthe several figures, Figure 1 is a view in perspective and partialcross-section of a portion of the side '.vall of a car and of one of thewells or compartments for the storage of the berths, the section of thecar floor forming the cover therefor being shown in its verticalposition. Fig. 2 is a plan 5o view of one of the berths, and across-section of the partitions between the berth sections.

Fig. is a longitudinal, vertical section thereof, taken upon line 3 3 ofFig. Fig. 4 is a cross-section taken upon line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 isa cross-section taken upon line 5 5 55 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 illustrates oneform of means for operating the shaftwhich raises and lowers the berth.Fig. 7 illustrates another form of means for such purpose. Fig. S is aview similar-to Fig. illustrating a slightly modi- 6o tied form of theberth raising and lowering means. Fig. 9 is a longitudinal section,taken upon line 9 9 of Fig. 8. Fig. l0 is a view in perspective of aportion of one end of the berth shown in Fig. S. Referring to Fig. l,the letter a designates a portion of the side wall of a sleeping car, ba well or compartment b neath the floor of said car, and c a hinged setion o'f the door, which closes said well when in its horizontalposition and serves as a partition between the berth sections whenraised to a vertical position, there being two of such hinged doorsections to each well, as by reference to patent to Harris, hereinbeforementioned, will more fully appear. The letter d designates one of theberths adapted to be lowered into and raised from the well b. As shownin said patent to Harris the berths are raised and lowered upon rackssecured to the underside 8o of the hinged floor sections and to the endwalls of the well, which racks are engaged by pinions upon shaftssupported in bearings at the ends of the berth, and extending parallelwith said ends, a third shaft, extending along the front side of theberth, having gear connection with said pinion-carrying shafts, andserving as a means for revolving the latter shafts simultaneously as itis itself revolved by suitable worm and worm-gear connections. In suchconstruction, the axes of the pinions being parallel with the ends ofthe berth, the tendency of the pinions is to spread the racks apart, tocounteract which tendency T-shaped ribs to project into similarly shapedgrooves 95 in the floor sections are provided, in said patent. Suchtongue and groove connection between the berth and the door sections isojectionable for the reason that it is liable to cause a binding actionbetween said parts too which willgreatly impede, if it does not entirelyprevent, vertical movement of the berth,

and this tendency will increase with increased wear of the teeth of thepinions and racks re spectively. From the very nature of the case it isof the utmost importance that the berth operating means in a carintended for both day and night use, shall be of such a nature that theberths can be quickly and easily moved from their inoperative to theiroperaf tive positions, and vice versa,and free from any liability tobecome clogged or rendered inoperative from any cause. Our tirstimprovement, therefore, consists in providing racks and pinions forraising and lowering the berths, so arranged as to obviate the tendencyto force .the two tloor sections away from each other,

and for this purpose we employ pinions whose axes are perpendicular tothe ends of the berth and racks whose teeth face in a direction parallelwith said ends. As shown in Figs. l to 5 inclusive, we utilize two rackse e',fac ing in opposite directions, which are suitably secured to thedoor section c within a recess in the latterand to the end wall of theWelland are preferably connected together by means of the cross-barse.

The letter f designates a shaft extending from end to end of the berthd, at a point slightly to one side of the transverse center of thelatter. At its extreme ends said shaft carries the pinons f', which meshwith the racks e of the two oor sections c. Two idler pinions fz,supported upon studs projecting from the ends of the berth, mesh withsaid pinionsf and with the racks e', asclearly shown in Fig. 2. Thepinions f f2 thus have their axes perpendicular to the ends of theberth, and are adapted by their engagement with each other and with theracks to raise or lower the berth as the case may be, when shaft f isrevolved in one or the other direction, with a steady and evenmovement., and without any wedging action upon the tloor sections c toforce the-latter apart.

To secure entire accuracy of register of the pinons f with the racks e,the former can be provided with a peripheral flange to enter a recess inthe racks, as shown at f, if desired, but such construction is notessential to the successful operation of said parts.

Various forms of means for manually revolving shaft f can he employed,one of the most simple of which is illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, inwhich the letter g designates a worm-gear mounted upon said shaft,adjacent to one of the ends of the berth, and g designates a wormrevolubly mounted in a housing gz secured to the end of the berth, andmeshing wth'said gear. Said worm can be provided with a squared head toreceive a wrench of any suitable form, but we prefer to provide it witha central opening gof angular form in cross-section, and to use inconnection therewith the operating device shown in Fig. 6, the sameconsisting of abase h provided with downwardly projecting pins to enterholes g in the upper side of housing g1, a bevel gear h' revolublymounted upon said base and having depending therefrom a rod hz adaptedto closely tit within the opening in worm g', a bevel gear h3 supportedupon a standard h upon said base and meshing with said gear h', a sleevehs revolubly supported npon a rod h pivotally connected at one end tosaid standard h, said sleeve carrying at one end a bevel gear h" whichmeshes with gear hs and at its opposite end a handle hs, and anarc-shaped support ha adapted to rest upon the outer edge of the berthand having adjnstably secured thereon a bearing block h1 which supportsthe outer ends of sleeve h.5 and rod h6. By revolving sleeve hfi bymeans of its handle, a revolving movement is transmitted to rod h2 andthe worm through the bevel gears, while the adjustment of the block hwupon the support h enables the angle of the sleeve to be varied at willas the berth is raised or lowered. B v means of this device, which canbe instantly applied to andremoved from aberth, the latter can bequickly and conveniently raised and lowered by a person standing infront there of, and the use of a plurality of shafts permanentlyconnected to the berth is obviated. In Fig. 7, however, we have shown amodified construction in which the worm k is located within a housing atthe front side of the berth, and motion is transmitted to shaft ftherefrom, through a cross-shaft k', which carries at one end the wormgear k* and at it,- opposite end the bevel gear k, which meshes with asimilar gear k on shaft f. The worm in this case being readilyaccessible from the front side of the berth, the device shown in Fig. 6will -be unnecessary.

Whatever system of gearingfor raisingand lowering the berth be employed,we regard it as of vital importance that some means be provided forassisting the action of said gearing, by connteracting to scme extentthe weight of the berth and the friction of the gearing. The secondbranch of our improvement., therefore, consists in the combination withgearing for raising and lowering a berth in the manner described, ofmeans, preferably a spring or springs, for assisting the action thereofin raising the berth.

In Fig. 1 we have represented by broken lines at m m, two steel springsof the form known as ribbon springs, which have one end thereof securedto the under side of the floor sections c in substantially the planeoccupied by the berth in its highest or operative position, and havetheir opposite ends coiled within casiugs m secured to the end of theberth. The tendency of the springs to again coil themselves within theireasings after be ing drawn from the latter, constantly tends to move theberth from its lowest to its highest position and augmenta the positiveaction of the gearing. We much prefer, however, to nsethe form ofspringshown in Figs. 2 3 58 and 9, the same consisting of a coiledribbon spring n, located within a housing n' and surrounding shaft f,said spring being connected at its lic.

opposite ends to said housing and shaft respectively, in such mannerthat revolution of the shaft in a direction to lower the berth will windup or contract the coil, and movement of the shaft in a direction toraise the berth will permit the coil to unwind or exband. Sucharrangement of the spring has a similar eect upon the movement of theberth to that rst mentioned, vizz-to partially counteract the weight ofthe berth and facilitate its upward movement, and possesses theadditional advantages that the spring will retain its elasticity for aperiod co-extensive with the life of the gearing, and occupies but asmall space. Other variations in the form, number, and arrangement. ofsprings for the purpose can be made within the spirit of our invention.

In Figs. S 9 and l0.we have shown a form of the invention in which theracks e' and pinions f2 are omitted, the berth being raised and loweredby means of the pinions f and racks e simply. In this form, some meansfor retaining the berth in a horizontal position must be employed, andwe have shown as one example of such means vertically disposed lugs oupon the ends of the berth, which project into vertical grooves in thefloor sections c. As this function is secured by the idler pinions 7"2and additional rack e first described, without the possibility of anybinding action between the berth and its supports, however, we prefer toemploy the first mentioned construction.

It will be observed that by means of the construction herein shown anddescribed we insure to this class of sleeping cars durability, certaintyand ease of operation, of its berth operating mechanism, in that weovercome all tendency of the rack and pinion mechanism to spread thevertically disposed door sections apart, obviate all binding actionbetween the berth and its supports, and provide an auxiliary spring orsprings to augment the action of the gearing. By reducing the number ofshafts and gears and, consequently, the number of parts to belubricated, we reduce the liability to soil the bed clothing and theapparel of the occupant of the berth with oil, as well as the odorarising from the latter, to a minimum, and thereby obviate what mightbecome a serious objection to this form of car.

Having thus fully described our invent-ion, whatwe claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is l. In a sleeping car, the combination with aberth-storing well or compartment located beheath the level of the oorofthe car, and two hinged sections of the floor adapted to close said wellor compartment and to be raised to a vertical position to formpartitionsbetween the berth-sections, of a rack secured to the underside of each of said floor sections the teeth of which racks projecttherefrom toward one of the sidewalls of the car, a berth adapted tooccupy said well or compartment, a shaft extending longitudinallythrough said berth at or near the transverse center thereof, said shaftcarrying at its ends pinions which en gage said racks, and meanssubstantially as described for manually revolving said shaft, arrangedand operating substantially as set forth.

2. In a sleeping car, the combination with a berthstoring well andhinged floor sections for closing said well as described, of a racksecured to the under side of said floor sections, a. berth adapted tooccupy said well, two pinions operatively connected to said berth at theends of the latter and engaging said racks respectively, the axes ofsaid pinions being perpendicular to the ends of the berth, and meanssubstantially as described for revolving said pinions simultaneously,substantially as set forth.

3. In a sleeping car, the combination with a well located beneath theplane of the floor of the car, and two hinged sections of the flooradapted to close said well and also to form partitions between theberth-sections, said floor sections being provided with racks on theirunderside, of a berth adapted to occupy said well when not in use, ashaft extending longitudinally through said berth at or near thetransverse center thereof, said shaft carrying at its ends pinions whichengage the racks on said oor sections, and carrying between its ends aworm-gear, a housing secured to the berth, a worm rcvolubly supported insaid housing and meshing with the worm-gear on said shaft, and meanssubstantially as described for manually revolving said worm,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In asleeping car, the combination with a wellor compartment locatedbeneath the level of the floor and two hinged sections of the IOC flooradapted to close said well or compartment and also to serve aspartitions between the berth-sections, each of said floor-sectionshaving upon its under side two racks facing in opposite directions, of aberth adapted to occupy said well or compartment when not in usea.rshaftpassing longitudinally through said berth and carrying at its ends twopinions which engage one of the racks on each of said floor sections,two idler pinions revolubly secured to the opposite ends of the berth,which pinions engage the second rack on each of said oor sections andalso mesh with said first mentioned pinions respectively, and meanssubstantiallyas set forth for manually revolvingsaid shaft, arranged andoperating substantially as described.

5. In a sleeping car, the combination .with a berth-storing well orcompartment located beneath the level of the car iloonaberth adapted tooccupy said well or compartment when not iu use, and means for loweringsaid berth into and raising it ont from said well or conipartment, of anauxiliary spring or springs for assisting the upward movement of theberth, substantially as set forth.

6. In a sleeping car, the combination witha 4 eeaoee berth-storing wellorcompartment located beneath the level of the door, a berth adapted tooccupy said well or compartment when not in use, and gearing connectedwith the berth and engaging corresponding devices counected with theberth-support for raising and lowering the same, of an auxiliary springor springs so disposed as to partially counteract the weight of theberth and assist its upward movement, arranged and operatingsubstantially as set forth.

7. In a sleeping car, the combination with a well or compartment locatedbeneath the door of the car, hinged oor sections adapted to close saidwel] and also to form partitions between the berthsections, said tloorsections having racks secured to their under side, and a berth adaptedto occupy said well or compart-ment when not iu use, of a shaftextending longitudinally through said berth and carrying at its endspinions which engage the racks on said floor-sections meanssubstantially as described for manually revolving said shaft to raiseand lower said berth, and a spring operatively connected with said shaftand exerting pressure thereon in a direction to cause an upward movementto the berth, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

8. The combination with a vertically movable sleeping-car berth, of ashaft extending 3 longitudinally through said berth at or near thetransverse center thereof and having at its ends suitable gearconnection with the berth supports whereby revolution of said shaft willraise and lower the berth, aworui 35 supported in a suitable housing outhe berth and engaging a worm-gear on said shaft, and means forrevolving said worrn from a point at the side of the berth, said meanscomprising a base adapted to be .detachably connected 4g to the housing,a gear revolubly supported upon said base and having means foroperatively engaging the worm, asleeve revolubLt` mounted upon a hingedbar and carrying a gear at one end and a handle at its opposite 45 end,an intermediate gear for transmitting the motion of one of said firstmentioned gears to the other, an arcshaped support adapted to rest uponthe berth at the front side thereof, and a bearingfor the outer end 5 ofsaid sleeve adjustably secured upon said support, arranged and operatingsubstantially as set forth.

HENRY PEARSOJ. CHARLES J. ROSE.

Witnesses:

W. H. CHAPMAN, J. E. CHAPMAN.

